OTTAWA — The Supreme Court won’t be the only place where arguments for and against euthanasia will be heard.

Federal Liberals are set to wade into the heated debate next month when they gather in Montreal to discuss what policies they would like the party to champion during the next federal election.

The Young Liberals of Canada are the driving force behind the move after they agreed to sponsor a resolution calling for the legalization of doctor-assisted suicide, Postmedia News has learned.

While a proposal to support legalizing prostitution may not even make it onto the larger convention floor, the resolution on euthanasia is expected to be tagged a priority, which would mean it must be debated by all delegates during the Feb. 20-23 policy convention.

Euthanasia has emerged as a hot political topic given Canada’s aging population and several high-profile cases, including one legal challenge in British Columbia that the Supreme Court said Thursday it would hear.

The Supreme Court last addressed the issue in 1993, when it delivered a landmark 5-4 ruling against physician-assisted suicide, and its decision to revisit the matter is considered significant.

At the same time, the Quebec government has also proposed legislation that, if adopted, would make the province the first in Canada to legalize euthanasia.

Physicians themselves are torn, with a Canadian Medical Association poll last year finding only one in five doctors would be willing to help a patient end his or her life if euthanasia were legalized.

Federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay and Health Minister Rona Ambrose have said the Conservative government has no interest in re-opening a debate on the issue in the House of Commons.

It’s unclear whether the proposal will receive much support from Liberals at the policy convention. But there is a clear precedent for a policy resolution being adopted at a Liberal convention and later finding its way into Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s plans.

Delegates agreed in January 2012 to support the decriminalization of marijuana, a position Trudeau has actually taken further by championing full legalization.

Yet the Liberal leader has been extremely guarded on euthanasia. One of the few times he has spoken on the issue was when he was asked about it during an event at Ryerson University in Toronto this past September.

Trudeau said he welcomed a national “conversation” on the issue “that isn’t looking to scoring points or looking forward to trying to paint your opponent into a corner as unreasonable or irresponsible.”

“It’s a very, very delicate and important debate for us to have,” he said in response to a student’s question.

But Trudeau also admitted to having reservations about legalizing euthanasia.

“I have a concern that until we have quality palliative care in this country for everyone who needs it, euthanasia could sometimes be a shortcut,” he said. “And I know in many cases it wouldn’t be. But if we’re not getting quality, end-of-life care, then there is an idea that maybe it would be cheaper or easier to simply engage in that. And that’s one of my real concerns about going down that path.”

Trudeau spokeswoman Kate Purchase said in an email Thursday that because the issue is now before the Supreme Court, “it would be inappropriate to pre-judge the outcomes,” and that the Liberal leader will “await their guidance.”

Former Liberal strategist Greg MacEachern, who is now vice-president of Environics Communications, said he couldn’t predict how Liberals would come down on the issue.

But, he said, however the debate in Montreal unfolds will serve as a barometer for whether there is broader public appetite for legalizing euthanasia — and whether it might end up in a future Liberal election platform.

“Canadians are looking at things a lot differently than even a decade ago,” MacEachern said. “But if it’s really, really divisive, that may suggest there may be some deeper thought around it.”

In their proposed resolution, the Young Liberals cite both the B.C. legal battle and Quebec’s proposed legislation in calling for the party to support legalizing physician-assisted suicide, and point to the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington as examples Canada can follow.

Both states have strict restrictions and who can ask for a physician to help them die, and under what conditions.

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